Breaking the stereotype: Asians and Math

Examining if there's any truth to Asians being naturally predisposed to mathmatics

By Monica Ly, AsiaXpress.com

Jan. 6, 2008

For such a simple, monosyllabic, four-letter word, math has the power to embed fear and uncertainty into its victims. Those who manage to elude its trickery are hailed and often consulted for homework help and test preparations.

Who are these who can conquer the daring challenges of math?

“Asians,” CU-Boulder senior Lauren Lau said. “I’m part Asian and I did well in math.”

Long live the geeky, Asian student.

Ever since legislation passed in 1965, Asian students have been associated with excelling in math, according to CU-Boulder ethnic studies professor Daryl Maeda.

“The 1965 Immigration Act specifically makes preferences for people with professional education,” Maeda said. “So, all of a sudden, many of the Asian immigrants that start to come over are people that are medical professionals. So, there’s a link there, it’s not only certain cultural values; they have human capital that they bring with them.”

Although this stereotype may have a slight basis in fact, one thing is relatively certain to geneticists.

“My guess would be that it’s a cultural expectation,” said Jennifer Knight, a senior instructor from the CU-Boulder molecular, cellular, and developmental biology department. “There isn’t a lot of evidence in the field of genetics to be predisposed to be good at math, and it’s hard to dissociate influences from the environment and natural ability.”

DNA cannot explain math aptitude as well as social constructions can.

“There’s some interesting research called ‘stereotype threat,’” said Irene Blair, a CU-Boulder associate professor in social psychology.

Typically a “stereotype threat” deals with negative stereotypes more often concerned with African-Americans than math or other academic subjects. In these instances, when people are reminded of their race or ethnicity, their performance decreases.

“With Asians, when you remind them of their ethnicity or race, you actually get an increase in performance, so we know there’s a little bit of a benefit in that stereotype in terms of … confidence, motivation or … that believing you really can do something or believing that other people believe you can really do well in something,” Blair said.

Even though performing well in math can be associated with outside influences, for some first- and second-generation students, education is heavily emphasized within the home.

“We’re pushed to do better because (our parents) hoped for a better life than what they had in back in their country,” CU-Boulder freshman Michelle Cho said.

CU-Boulder student Caleb Choi agrees.

“Some parents can’t speak English, so they force their children to learn math,” Choi said.

Although future generations down the road may continue the trend of manufacturing Asian mathematicians, others may be open to other fields of study that extend beyond math and sciences.

Depending on the family however, regardless of any culture, the degree to which parents value education can transform students into those who delve into stacks of books and receive the hard-earned A or leaving their schoolwork to fester and settling with C-average grades.

“One of the major reasons we moved to the states was so that I could have better educational opportunities and resources,” Williams College sophomore Shirish Poudyal said. “And, yes my parents did teach and prepare me for math at home, in addition to whatever was taught in school. I still can vividly remember how my mom taught me to divide and multiply. I also remember memorizing tables and having to recite them before my parents.”

Performing well in math and other areas of studies help to perpetuate the model minority role, Maeda said.

“The model minority idea is exactly what it sounds like: that Asians are the perfect minority and are the model for all other minorities,” Maeda said. “Asian Americans have done really well for themselves, they’ve overcome racism, they’ve overcome poverty … they’ve done it through hard work and education.”

Steven R. Guberman, an associate professor of education at CU-Boulder, published research comparing students of different ethnicities and their math abilities. Depending on their out-of-school activities, Latin-American students were found to be in extra-curricular activities that emphasized money while Korean-American children were doing things that further advanced their education and learning.

“This (stereotype), even though it’s positive, it’s bad as well because there are expectations and people feel pressured to meet the expectations,” CU-Boulder senior Charanjit Gill.

Monica Ly is an assistant editor for AsiaXpress.com. Monica can be reached at monica.ly (at) asiaxpress.com